Baseline characteristics of participants by group
| Mini-sternotomy group (n=135) | Conventional sternotomy group (n=135) | |
| Baseline characteristics | ||
| Age (years) | ||
| Mean±SD | 69.3±9.3 | 68.7±8.4 |
| Range | 43–85 | 39–88 |
| Gender n (%) | ||
| Male | 78 (57.8) | 87 (64.4) |
| Female | 57 (42.2) | 48 (35.6) |
| Ethnicity n (%) | ||
| White British | 135 (100) | 135 (100) |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | ||
| Mean±SD | 30.5±5.6 | 30.4±6.1 |
| Range (min–max) | 19.0–45.4 | 19.3–52.0 |
| EuroSCORE: Mean±SD (min–max) | ||
| Logistic | 5.2±3.5 (1.5–29.5) | 5.1±3.5 (1.5–21.0) |
| II–mean | 1.5±1.1 (0.5–10.2) | 1.5±1.2 (0.5–10.0) |
| Diagnosis echocardiogram: n (%) | ||
| Regurgitation | 3 (2.2) | 8 (5.9) |
| Stenosis | 132 (97.8) | 127 (94.1) |
| NYHA class: n (%) | ||
| I | 24 (17.8) | 18 (13.3) |
| II | 68 (50.4) | 66 (48.9) |
| III | 40 (29.6) | 46 (34.1) |
| IV | 3 (2.2) | 5 (3.7) |
| *Haemoglobin prior to randomisation: g/dL | ||
| Mean±SD | 137.9±14.3 | 137.1±16.1 |
| Range (min–max) | 97–173 | 90–175 |
| Surgery type: n (%) | ||
| Elective | 111 (82.2) | 112 (82.6) |
| In-house urgent | 24 (17.8) | 23 (17.4) |
*One patient had a baseline haemoglobin (Hb) of 95 g/L at randomisation, which had fallen to 83 immediately prior to surgery. This Hb drop was not identified until after surgery and the patient continued in the trial with their data included in the analyses based on the intention-to-treat principle.